Antenna Apparatus, Antenna System, and Antenna Electrical Tilting Method

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide an RCU (remote control unit), an antenna apparatus, an antenna electrical tilting method and an antenna system. The RCU includes a reading device and a driver. The reading device is configured to read, from a memory inside the antenna apparatus, when the antenna apparatus is communicatively connected with the RCU, antenna information of an antenna controlled by the antenna apparatus and configuration data corresponding to the antenna. The antenna information includes the antenna serial number and the antenna model of the antenna. The driver is configured to control the antenna apparatus to adjust an electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna in accordance with the configuration data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/740,064, now allowed, filed on Jan. 11, 2013, which is a continuationof International Application No. PCT/CN2011/078991, filed on Aug. 26,2011. The International Application claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201010555649.1, filed on Nov. 23, 2010. All of theafore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of communications,and in particular embodiments, to an antenna apparatus, an antennasystem, and an antenna electrical tilting method in a base stationsystem.

BACKGROUND

Electrical tilting antennas have become the mainstream in mobilecommunication systems. An electrical tilting antenna refers to a mobileantenna for which the down-tilt angle is adjusted electrically. Amaintenance system located in a base station adjusts the electricaldown-tilt angle of the antenna for network optimization.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a base station system including anelectrical tilting antenna, which includes an antenna tower, an antenna,a remote control unit (RCU), a remote radio unit (RRU), and a base bandunit (BBU). The RRU is connected with the antenna and used for receivingand transmitting signals by using the antenna. A motor is arrangedinside the RCU, and the motor is connected with a phase shifter (notshown in the figure) inside the antenna through a transmission apparatus(for example, a connecting rod, not shown in the figure).

During operation, the motor drives, through the transmission apparatus,the phase shifter to move, thereby adjusting the electrical down-tiltangle of the antenna. During the adjustment process, configuration datafor controlling the driving and moving length is different because ofdifferent types of antenna phase shifters and different transmission andmoving distances. The RCU needs to load different configuration data fordifferent antennas having different antenna phase shifters, so that theRCU can move in a correct route and correctly adjust the electricaldown-tilt angle of the antenna. This requires identifying an antennadevice first, recording information about each antenna when the antennadevice is added to the base station maintenance system, and loadingcorrect configuration data to the RCU according to the information, sothat the electrical tilting antenna is correctly and preciselycontrolled by using the RCU to control the movement of the phaseshifter.

A data configuration method adopted in the prior art is that: at thesystem installation and configuration phase, after installing the RCU onthe tower, the installation personnel write down information such as theRCU serial numbers and corresponding antenna frequency bands, and thenadd the RCU to the base station maintenance system and configurerelevant data for each RCU to control the antennas correspondingthereto. During the process of implementing the present invention, theinventor finds that in practice, the following cases tend to occur: anRCU serial number may be written down incorrectly, or a serial numberwritten down does not correspond to that of the RCU, or the RCU serialnumber written down does not match the information of the antenna to beactually connected. These cases result in incorrect information on thebase station maintenance platform and incorrect configuration for theantennas. Consequently, the network fails to be optimized correctly. Tocorrect the information, the installation personnel need to mount overthe tower and read and write down the information again, causingrepeated operations which wastes manpower and resources.

If the RCU is built in the antenna and the configuration data is alreadyloaded when the RCU is delivered from the factory, only sectorinformation of the antenna needs to be recorded at the installationsite. However, this causes a problem that the RCU occupies the internalvolume of the antenna, resulting in a large antenna volume. And if theRCU board and motor are built in the antenna, if the board or motor isfaulty, it is difficult to dismantle them, and even if they aredismantled, the antenna is damaged and cannot be maintained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna, configuredto be used in conjunction with an Remote Control Unit (RCU), andincluding a readable and writable memory which is configured to storeconfiguration data of the antenna and antenna information correspondingto the configuration data, where when the configuration data is loadedto the RCU, the RCU is enabled to drive a motor to move according to theconfiguration data, so as to adjust an electrical down-tilt angle of theantenna.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an antennasystem, including an antenna apparatus and an RCU used in conjunctionwith the antenna apparatus, where the antenna apparatus includes areadable and writable memory and a motor.

The readable and writable memory is configured to store configurationdata of an antenna and antenna information corresponding to theconfiguration data, where when the configuration data is loaded to theRCU, the RCU drives the motor inside the antenna to move according tothe configuration data to adjust an electrical down-tilt angle of theantenna.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an antennaelectrical tilting method, including the following steps. Configurationdata that corresponds to antenna information is retrieved and stored ina readable and writable memory inside an antenna according to theantenna information. The configuration data is loaded to an RCU. A motorinside the antenna is driven to move according to the configuration datato adjust electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna.

In the embodiments of the present invention, a readable and writablememory is disposed inside an antenna to store correspondingconfiguration data of the antenna, so that an external device canconveniently call the configuration data to configure the RCU and toremotely control the electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna. Thisreduces the human error rate, reduces the installation cost, improvesthe accuracy of project implementation, and facilitates maintenance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a base station system using an antennaof the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna system of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an antenna electrical tilting method of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

To make the objective, technical solutions, and advantages of thepresent invention clearer, the present invention is described below infurther detail with reference to specific embodiments and relevantaccompanying drawings.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna apparatus,configured to be used in conjunction with an RCU (remote control unit,e.g., external remote control unit), and including a motor, a phaseshifter, and a readable and writable memory.

The readable and writable memory is configured to store configurationdata of an antenna and antenna information corresponding to theconfiguration data, where when the configuration data is loaded to theRCU, the RCU is enabled to drive the motor to move according to theconfiguration data. The antenna information optionally includes one ormore of all antenna models, antenna frequency bands, and antenna serialnumbers, so that the RCU can obtain the configuration data of thecorresponding antenna to be loaded to the RCU from the readable andwritable memory according to the antenna models in the antennainformation, or obtain the configuration data of the correspondingantenna to be loaded to the RCU according to the antenna frequencybands.

The motor is configured to drive, through rotation thereof, the phaseshifter to move to adjust the electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna.It should be understood that after the RCU loads the configuration dataof the antenna, the motor may drive the phase shifter to move accordingto an instruction issued by the RCU to adjust the electrical down-tiltangle of the antenna. Alternatively, after the RCU loads theconfiguration data of the antenna, the motor may be connected with thephase shifter of the antenna through a structural transmission part, andthen drive the structural transmission part to move when the motor isoperating, so as to drive the phase shifter of the antenna to move.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a readable and writablememory is disposed inside an antenna to store correspondingconfiguration data of the antenna, so that an external device canconveniently call the configuration data to configure the RCU and toremotely control the electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna. Thisreduces the human error rate, reduces the installation cost, improvesthe accuracy of project implementation, and facilitates maintenance.

Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides anantenna 200, and a readable and writable storage unit 210 is installedinside the antenna 200.

Configuration data and antenna information of the antenna may be writtento the readable and writable storage unit 210 during production. Theantenna information inside the readable and writable storage unit 210includes information such as antenna frequency bands, antenna serialnumbers, and configuration data of antennas of all models. Optionally,an external reading and writing device 100 is installed outside theantenna 200. The external reading and writing device 100 performs readand write operations on the readable and writable storage unit 210inside the antenna, first reads the antenna information, then retrievesthe configuration data of the corresponding antenna 200 from thereadable and writable storage unit 210 inside the antenna 200 accordingto information such as the antenna model in the antenna information, andthen loads the configuration data to an RCU, thereby correctly adjustingthe electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna.

It can be seen that the external reading and writing device 100 may be aseparate device, or may be built in a tower mounted device which isconnected with the antenna, for example, an RCU, or a tower mountedamplifier (Tower Mounted Amplifier, TMA).

In the base station system, to facilitate system maintenance, avisualization window unit connected with the RCU and configured toobtain antenna information may be added. A query command is deliveredthrough the visualization window unit to control the external readingand writing device to perform the operation of obtaining the antennainformation, thereby easily and conveniently obtaining the requiredantenna information and configuring the antennas. If the configurationdata of the antenna is changed later, the antenna configuration data ofthe readable and writable memory inside the antenna may also be changedthrough the visualization window unit.

Optionally, data may be communicated between the readable and writablestorage unit 210 inside the antenna and the external reading and writingmodule 100 by using wired communication or wireless communication.

Referring to FIG. 3, data is communicated between the readable andwritable storage unit 210 inside the antenna 200 and the externalreading and writing module 100 by using wireless communication. Thereadable and writable storage unit 210 inside the antenna 200 is anelectronic label RFID Tag (radio frequency identification tag). Theexternal reading and writing device 100 is optionally built in an RCU400. The RCU 400 may obtain antenna information directly from theelectronic label RFID Tag of the antenna 200, read configuration datafrom the electronic label RFID Tag according to the antenna information,and load the configuration data to the RCU 400. Here, a base stationsystem 500 may obtain, through a query command, information about theantenna connected with the RCU, or deliver a command to directly loadthe configuration data to the RCU.

Referring to FIG. 4, a device connected with an antenna is connectedwith a storage chip board inside the antenna through connection wires toprovide power supply and control signals required by the storage chipinside the antenna. Signal interfaces on the wires may be I2C or SPIinterfaces.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the presentinvention, since a readable and writable memory is disposed inside anantenna to store corresponding configuration data of the antenna, anexternal device can conveniently call the configuration data toconfigure the RCU. In this manner, the RCU serial number and antennainformation can be automatically recognized. For example, during projectinstallation, it is not necessary to manually write down the RCU serialnumbers and antenna information. A corresponding relationship betweenthe RCU and the antenna is obtained by using a query function of thebase station. In addition, the configuration data in the storage unitinside the antenna is read and automatically loaded to the RCU.

In addition, the project installation time is reduced, and the errorrate caused by manually writing down information is reduced. Forexample, the error rate of writing down and inputting information isinevitable, which is prone to mistakes, wastes time, and increases thecost. After this solution is used, the human mistakes will be avoided,and the project quality and installation efficiency will be improved.

As another feature, future maintenance is facilitated. For example, ifan electrical tilting antenna is faulty and software or configurationdata is lost, the configuration data needs to be loaded again, whichrequires mounting over the tower to write down RCU and correspondinginformation again. By using this solution, however, the antennainformation corresponding to the RCU may be automatically obtained toacquire the configuration data, thereby achieving automatic loading.

Referring to FIG. 5, an antenna system 1 provided by an embodiment ofthe present invention includes an antenna apparatus 200, an externalreading and writing device 100, and an RCU 400. The external reading andwriting device 100 is built in the RCU 400.

As described in the foregoing embodiments, the antenna apparatus may beused in conjunction with an external remote control unit, and theantenna apparatus includes a phase shifter, a readable and writablememory, and a motor. The phase shifter is configured to adjust anelectrical down-tilt angle of the antenna. The motor is configured todrive the phase shifter to move to adjust the electrical down-tilt angleof the antenna. The readable and writable memory is configured to storeconfiguration data of the antenna and antenna information correspondingto the configuration data. When the configuration data is loaded to theRCU, the RCU drives the motor inside the antenna to move according tothe configuration data, so as to drive the phase shifter inside theantenna to move, thereby adjusting the electrical down-tilt angle of theantenna.

In this embodiment, the external reading and writing device 100 isconfigured to perform read and write operations on the readable andwritable storage unit 210 inside the antenna. The external reading andwriting device 100 first reads the antenna information, then retrievesthe configuration data of the antenna 200 from the readable and writablestorage unit 210 according to the antenna information, and then loadsthe configuration data to the RCU 400.

Optionally, the antenna system 1 further includes a visualization windowunit 600. A query command is delivered through the visualization windowunit 600 to control the external reading and writing device 100 toobtain the antenna information.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a readable and writablememory is disposed inside an antenna to store correspondingconfiguration data of the antenna, so that an external device canconveniently call the configuration data to configure the RCU and toremotely control the electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna. Thisreduces the human error rate, reduces the installation cost, improvesthe accuracy of project implementation, and facilitates maintenance.

Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of the present invention furtherprovides an antenna electrical tilting method, including the followingsteps.

Step 710: Retrieve configuration data which corresponds to antennainformation and is stored in a readable and writable memory inside anantenna according to the antenna information.

Step 720: Load the configuration data to an RCU.

Step 730: Drive a motor inside the antenna to move according to theconfiguration data, so as to drive a phase shifter inside the antenna tomove, thereby adjusting an electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna.

It should be understood that the antenna information optionally includesone or more of all antenna models, antenna frequency bands, and antennaserial numbers, so that the RCU can obtain the configuration data of thecorresponding antenna to be loaded to the RCU from the readable andwritable memory according to the antenna models in the antennainformation, or obtain the configuration data of the correspondingantenna to be loaded to the RCU according to the antenna frequencybands.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a readable and writablememory is disposed inside an antenna to store correspondingconfiguration data of the antenna, so that an external device canconveniently call the configuration data to configure the RCU and toremotely control the electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna. Thisreduces the human error rate, reduces the installation cost, improvesthe accuracy of project implementation, and facilitates maintenance.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand that all or apart of the processes of the method according to the embodiments may beimplemented by a computer program instructing relevant hardware. Theprogram may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. When theprogram is run, the processes of the method according to the embodimentsare performed. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an opticaldisk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or a Random Access Memory (RAM).

Although the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of thepresent invention have been described in detail above through theexemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the abovedescriptions are merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention,and are not intended to limit the present invention. All modifications,equivalent replacements, and improvements made without departing fromthe spirit and principle of the present invention shall fall within theprotection scope of the present invention.

1. An antenna apparatus, configured to be used in conjunction with aremote control unit (RCU), the antenna apparatus comprising: a readableand writable memory, configured to store configuration data of anantenna and antenna information corresponding to the configuration data,wherein when the configuration data is loaded to the RCU, the RCU isenabled to drive a motor to move according to the configuration data, soas to adjust an electrical down-tilt angle of the antenna.